Zombie Deer Disease can potentially infect humans, should you be worried about it?

Alarming news has come from the wildlife habitats of the USA, Canada, Norway, and South Korea about the spread of a deadly disease with 100% fatality rates, known as ‘Zombie Deer Disease’ or ‘Chronic Wasting Disease’ (CWD).

The absence of any sort of treatments or vaccines for this disease is what makes it even more scary. It is highly contagious among deer, elk, and moose due to which it has been spreading rapidly. Scientists even fear that it might even cross the species barrier and start infecting humans as well.

Let’s understand the situation in-depth with the characteristics of the zombie deer disease and why it is being speculated by scientists that humans might also come into the trap of this disease.

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What is the Zombie Deer Disease?

Zombie Deer Disease infects deer, elk, and moose (Image by Vladimircech on Freepik)

The first case of the disease was identified in Yellowstone National Park last year. Due to the disease being contagious, it has now spread to nearly 33 states in the US. These cases are not just limited to the United States. On the global level, the cases of zombie deer disease have also been identified in South Korea, Norway, and Canada.

The disease primarily infects deer, moose, and elk, and causes permanent brain damage in them. The symptoms are not just limited to mental damage but also extend to progressive decline in physical health and behavioral changes, eventually causing the death of innocent animals.

Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, recently told KFF Health News:

“The bottom-line message is we are quite unprepared. If we saw a spillover right now, we would be in free fall. There are no contingency plans for what to do or how to follow up.”

His statement is enough to realize the depth of the situation and how the lives of so many vulnerable animals are at stake if proper treatment is not devised soon.

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Can Zombie Deer Disease transmit to humans?

The disease can mutate and infect humans as well. (Image by Rorozoa on Freepik)

Currently, there are no cases of the transmission of this disease in humans, but medical experts have postulated that consumption of infected animal meat might actually make this possibility real. Nearly 15,000 infected deer and elk are consumed annually by humans, and this alarmingly high number is what makes this scenario more dangerous.

If infected animals are being consumed continuously at such a rate, there are chances that this disease will mutate and begin infecting humans.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned last year:

"These studies raise concerns that there may also be a risk to people."

Such a case has been observed earlier during the spread of the Mad Cow Disease as well.

Due to the consumption of infected meat, the Mad Cow Disease mutated and crossed the species barrier, and ultimately started to infect humans as well. If the current situation is not put under control, then a similar situation can arise yet again in the case of zombie deer disease.

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Tests regarding human transmission

Mice injected with CWD isolates were found to develop CWD. (Image by DC Studio on Freepik)

Sabine Gilch, a researcher at the University of Calgary, Canada, recently conducted an experiment along with her team to outline the potential human transmission possibility of the Zombie Deer Disease. CWD isolates from infected deer and elk species were injected into humanized mouse models.

The results came out to be a shock as those mice actually developed a form of Zombie Deer Disease, and were also found to shed infected proteins in their faeces. These results have increased the risk of this disease transmission manifold. The only possible solution at this time is to avoid consumption of deer or elk meat until reports of a potential cure come forward.

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Therefore, to tackle this emerging threat of Zombie Deer Disease among wild animals, necessary steps need to be taken to ensure that its transmission is under control among animals, and most importantly, among humans. Since it has become an international issue, governments are keeping an eye on this matter while scientists are working out a cure for this. For personal safety, it is best to avoid the consumption of deer or elk meat from unhygienic sources until a cure for the disease is devised.